QPC Briefing No 17 2025
Health and Safety Representative Elections
Following pressure from the AFAP, Qantas has now released the FSO (ADM 50/25) detailing the Health and Safety Representative (HSR) election process for Sydney and Perth based pilots. While we welcome its release and the opportunity it provides for pilots to exercise their collective voice and have a democratic say in their safety representation, we are disappointed the Company failed to initiate the HSR election process in a timely manner. Some of the HSR terms expired on 16 July leaving gaps in formal safety representation at a time when key issues remained unresolved and it should not have taken this long to have elections conducted.
HSRs play a critical role in ensuring your voice is heard on health and safety issues. Under state legislation, HSRs are empowered to investigate issues, request relevant information, and in some cases, direct that work cease where serious risks exist. Currently your HSRs are working on a range of issues including, security screening, crew meals and ramp issues.
Looking ahead, HSRs will play an increasingly important role in matters relating to fatigue. With the introduction of ultra-long-haul duties under Project Sunrise, there will be new and evolving challenges to manage. In addition, future changes to the FRMS at both Short Haul and Long Haul pose several psychosocial hazards that your HSRs must be consulted on. Ensuring there are experienced, proactive HSRs in place will be critical to maintaining high standards of crew health and safety as operational demands change.
We encourage all members in Perth and Sydney to take part in this election process. QPC Secretary Rob Close has put himself forward as a HSR in Sydney and is currently the only nominee from short haul. His ongoing involvement in health and safety matters makes him well-placed to continue advocate effectively for pilots’ interests across the network.
Voting closes this Thursday, 14 August and the link is available for Sydney and Perth based pilots in the FSO.
Work Health and Safety Survey
To strengthen our WHS advocacy, we’ve launched a Health & Safety Survey that is open to all pilots (members and non-members). The survey will remain open until 21 August and will inform our strategy moving forward.
Have your say on Qantas’ WHS systems and structures here:
https://afap.questionpro.com/QPCWorkHealthSafety
LH Update
Negotiations for the Long Haul EA are ongoing, with meetings taking place most weeks. The AFAP continues to advocate firmly for meaningful improvements, particularly in relation to fatigue mitigation and enhancements for B and C scale Second Officers. While we have made progress on fatigue mitigation more broadly, the issue of Second Officer stagnation protection remains a key stumbling block. We also continue to hold concerns regarding the adequacy of proposed fatigue protections on the A350, particularly in light of its expected ultra-long-haul operations.
While the Company’s proposed pay structure is complex, we believe we are close to reaching an acceptable position that addresses the recent inflationary spikes and cost of living pressures. What remains unresolved, however, are several concession-based claims which currently lack appropriate safeguards or agreed safety nets.
Qantas has submitted a wide range of claims, some involving minor clarifications, others proposing more substantial changes. We are approaching these carefully.
History has shown that previous agreements included changes that, while seemingly small at the time, have had unintended and lasting impacts on pilots. We are committed to thoroughly exploring every proposal, pushing back on unreasonable positions, and ensuring all outcomes are fully understood before any agreement is reached.
Importantly, we are negotiating from a position of strength. Qantas is actively pursuing reforms it has identified as strategically significant. With that in mind, we believe an agreement is within reach, if the Company is willing to take the final steps needed to address outstanding concerns.
Short Haul Implementation Schedule
You will recall that the AFAP recently wrote to the Company expressing your frustration at its unilateral changes to the implementation schedule, made without consultation.
While we welcome the Company’s decision to bring forward Pay for Reserve Duty (no call out) by a month, we are disappointed that Pay for Reserve Call Out, Bidding for Reserve, and 4-hour minimums on AV/BL days are being delayed until 8 September.
In recent meetings with Doug Alley, Jim Morton (Qantas IR) and other members of the implementation team, we pressed the company on why OL11 cannot be applied already to ensure the minimum 4-hour payment, already standard in some cases, is guaranteed for all call-outs. This is particularly important given that pay for duties allocated over a reserve duty clause 28.1.7) is not in operation leaving the potential for pilots assigned a duty on reserve to be paid less than 4 hours for the day. The Company has taken this under consideration, and we look forward to their response.
In these talks and communications to all pilots, the Company has indicated it "hopes" to implement Pattern Credit Guarantee and Long Slip Credit ahead of schedule.
We also inquired about whether until PCG is implemented the Company would use pattern guarantee (PG) when pilots lose flying and credits through no fault of their own or when they have extended and assisted the Company. Qantas IR confirmed that the Company would not be applying PG as it is paying 1.7 credit hours per pilot per bid period until PCG is implemented.
Let’s be clear: Any acceleration in implementation is a direct result of strong pilot feedback. The Company has acknowledged it is "particularly conscious of the feedback received”.
This shows that our collective voice works. Let’s keep using it.
AFAP Submission to Consultation on Beard Policy
An overwhelming number of pilots across both mainline and Group airlines have also used their collective voice to support evidence-based safety over Qantas’ flawed beard policy. It is a powerful demonstration of unity to see pilots from across the Qantas Group standing together in defence of science and safety.
The AFAP’s Safety & Technical team has submitted a detailed rebuttal of the consultant report Qantas relied on to justify its proposed policy. The submission includes a direct response from renowned aviation scientist Professor French of Embry-Riddle, who has criticised the QinetiQ report and strongly defended the integrity of his original research which the QinetiQ report maligned.
These submissions have been lodged with Qantas. Read them
here.
The deadline for individual submissions is this Tuesday, 12 August. If you haven’t yet submitted, do so now via your base team or the form
here. Feel free to use AFAP’s research to strengthen your response.
Questions and Feedback
If you have any questions or feedback please contact your AFAP Qantas Pilot Council representatives at
qpc@afap.org.au, or the AFAP legal and industrial team of Senior Legal/ Industrial Officer Pat Larkins (
patrick@afap.org.au), Senior Industrial Officer Deanna Cain (
deanna@afap.org.au) or Executive Director Simon Lutton (
simon@afap.org.au).
Regards,
AFAP Qantas Pilot Council
Michael Egan – Chair
Mark Gilmour – Vice-Chair
Rob Close – Secretary
Michael Armessen – Committee Member
David LaPorte – Committee Member
Josh Chalmers – Committee Member